Rickenbacker 481 - who remembers it?

[playas]

Got it.

I was thinking it was an intonation thing.

I thought that too but if you look at the nut and bridge they have a similar angle also.

[GuitarStv]

Played one once in the early 80's, didn't dig it at all

I've only played a few Rickenbackers . . . but they were uniformly terrible feeling. Didn't like the necks at all.

[GuitarDoc]

I've never heard of that model but it's a very interesting idea. I'm curious enough to make a neck with slanted frets just to see how it feels.
I understand how some people may have a hard time with Ric necks, but they are not difficult to get used to if you play them for more than a few minutes. (They certainly aren't shred necks).

[Mincer]

The modern version of fanned frets is to have a different scale length for the lower strings, so they sound better. But I like this ergonomic reason better. I wonder why it never took off?